Beautiful Boy
by snakepit
Summary: Ghost!Levi. Eren is haunted by a boy named Levi. No one else sees him, no one else hears him. Getting through life with a ghost attached to his hip may be more problematic than he bargained for. Rated M for future sexual content, slight gore mention and language.
1. Zyxt

**Disclaimer:**

"What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?" belongs to _Taking Back Sunday_. I don't own the song or lyrics. uwu

**Authors Note:**

This story has an explanation; I'm stressed. I'm stressed like hell trying to move out and get a job, so it's becoming harder to work on all of my other fics mostly because I have to think so hard to generate an idea for where this chapter will lead. So while I'm on hiatus for my other fics (_Transgender_ mostly), I've started this one, because it's happy, it's relaxing and calm and should be a bit easier to work on plot wise.

I hope you understand, (if you are) my followers. All of the other fics will still be updated, but I can't give certain dates anymore. Meanwhile, I should be updating this one regularly and I have a Thanksgiving oneshot coming up soon.

However, if you're new to my stories then hello! No need to worry about anything I've said. nwn

**Important:**

Levi is in character development and this first chapter will just display him with a child's attitude. There will be future lemons and romance. I'm also trying out a new writing style, so let me know how I did!

* * *

><p><em><strong>Beautiful Boy<strong>__; Zyxt_

It was a shitty day in Trost for young Eren Jaeger.

For starters, the weather was absolute shit; below freezing and the Earth was covered in ice and snow. That resulted in Eren falling on his ass on his way home; as if he weren't sore enough from busting his ass on helping his mother with her business.

Reason number two why today was the worst: Jean Kirstein was a horse-faced bastard, quote Eren to the nothingness covered in a blanket of snow. He pictured Jean's dumbass face while he picked away the bark on a tree in his backyard. Jutting his knife into the bark again, he spat out, "Horse-face son of a bitch."

If his mother heard him talking like that, surely there'd be another reason to make his day worse.

Alas, all he had to make do with was explaining the cut on his face to his mother. It was, of course, because Jean had whipped out a little pocket knife and decided to swing it around, trying to act tough in front of Mikasa, but he had actually ended up cutting Eren's soft, plump cheek by mistake.

Marco had tried to apologize for Jean but Eren wouldn't accept a hand-me-down apology. Besides, he knew that little innocent Holy Freckles wasn't all so great either. It was no secret that the two of them were snogging behind the gym after every hour of class was up.

And Annie—he couldn't even bear her stupid poker face any more than Armin could have for the three weeks he dated her. Her unimpressed, too good for anyone façade—any idiot could have heard her sobbing by the school's exit after hours. She wasn't all that she was cracked up to be.

Mikasa—shit, he didn't even want to think about her.

But he did, as he stabbed another exposed piece of timber.

"Should I be weary of that tree or something?"

Eren dropped the knife, fearing that it was his mother even though that was _obviously_ a male voice. He spun around to meet the owner of the cooled, silky voice that was now chuckling at his pained expression.

A kid, about his age, had his arms crossed and sitting on a bench beside the bird bath. His legs were crossed at the ankles and he looked as if he had been sitting there for some time now. Undoubtedly, he probably had heard what Eren said.

"What?" Eren spat stupidly.

"That tree—looks pretty vicious, I guess. Isn't that why you're stabbing at it?"

The stranger lifted one of his thin brows.

Sure, he looked young, and when he stood up he was shorter than hell, but his facial features were sharp. His jaw line was tense even though his face looked relaxed. The white t-shirt he was wearing looked far too large to fit his small, thin body and his hair was shaved in the back; the rest fell into his face lazily.

His eyes, is what Eren was focused on. They were narrow, cat-like and reflected like silver.

"My mom said I shouldn't talk to strangers," Eren pathetically blurted. "Especially at night—don't you know about the killings happening around here? You should go home, too."

The kid came further into the dim lighting of the full moon. He wasn't wearing any pants and his short pale legs were iced over in snow. He wasn't even trembling; his composure was completely warmed and unfazed.

"Relax, I'm already dead."

That information didn't sit well.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Two weeks later;<strong>_

"Stop that," Eren brushes the eraser shavings off of his sheet of paper and glances to the student next to him. He growls in frustration because every time he tries to write "5th grade" an invisible force keeps thumping his hand so that he marks a line straight down his sheet of paper.

He tries again, the same thing happens.

"Levi!" He grumbles under his breath. Armin turns around in his seat to look at him for a few seconds before his expression worries. When he turns around Eren sighs a breath of relief and shoots a glare at his own paper. There's some laughter in his ear, a voice deep for a child and a chill on the nape of his neck before his hand shoots to itch it.

Something pinches underneath his knee and he kicks the back of Armin's seat, earning another strange and surprised stare from the blond. He tries to apologize but his annoyed and scrunched up expression just makes him look like a huge twat.

"Eren Jaeger."

"Yes, Mr. Shadis!"

"Is there a problem?"

"No sir!"

The teacher narrows his eyes before returning his focus to the computer screen. Another sigh of relief comes from the brunet who is now frantically scanning the classroom, trying to find any sign of the mischievous being; however, the classroom is only full of uniformed 5th graders who are whispering and glancing back at him.

He sinks into his seat. Finally, he gets to properly date his paper. Now all he has to do is write a paper about his role model. That was easy; it was his mother.

_'My role model is'_ was all he was able to write before the shrill bell rang in his ear.

"Class is dismissed!"

"What!" He exclaims. Mr. Shadis's eyes fall on him, stern and ready to give punishment any moment. He nearly snaps his pencil in half but decides against it. Instead, he grits his teeth and tosses his supplies back into his bag before hooking his checkered backpack over his shoulder.

Mr. Shadis is waiting at the front of the classroom to collect papers before students leave. It's final period and the weekend, so Eren prays that the ruthless man will grow a heart for once and just let him slip this one time.

He waits in line patiently behind the other students before his time comes and he hands over the blank sheet of paper. He makes eye contact for half a second before bolting for the door—fruitlessly. A large hand is grabbing his book bag strap and pulling him off of his feet and right back to where he was.

"Is this a joke, Eren?" Mr. Shadis holds the sheet up.

"It wasn't me—it was Levi! He wouldn't let me work!"

"He can't see me, _crétin_."

"Shut up!" He exclaims to the room.

"Excuse me? I'm going to talk to your mother about this tonight."

"No! Please—"

"You're dismissed, Mr. Jaeger."

His expression falls into a pout as he steps out of the way of the student behind him. He drags his feet into the hallway while his eyes are constantly in motion and on the prowl for a floating ravenet kid who deserves a punch in the gut. Alas, he sees no sign of Levi and the only one who's popping up in his vision is Armin and Mikasa.

"Eren, are you in trouble?" Mikasa's monotone voice breaks his attention.

"I dunno," he shrugs and sighs. He thinks about blaming Levi again, but he knows they wouldn't understand.

"Do you want me to come home with you tonight?" Mikasa asks.

Eren shakes his head. If Mikasa were to come home with him then it would only give Levi a chance to pester him further and the last thing he needs is Mikasa to worry about him anymore. She seems to take offense to him turning her down regardless, because she mutters a quick "Fine," and picks her bag up before brushing past him.

And then there were two. Armin is fidgeting with his hair that got caught in his book bag strap and trying to maintain a sympathetic eye contact at the same time.

"Have you been okay lately?"

"Yeah," Eren tries to think if that's a total lie. He starts to walk with the crowd who are all hurrying to the buses. Armin walks beside him silently, as if he's waiting for something further. He finally speaks up when they reach the bus lanes. "I'm just tired I guess."

"Get more sleep then!" Armin rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, sure." Eren brushes it off. He waves goodbye as Armin gets on his bus and he goes the separate way to get onto his own bus.

Nothing gets better when he gets on the bus; in fact, it gets worse. Jean Kirstein is sitting in his seat with a smug look on his stupid horse face. The worst part was that Levi was sitting next to Jean, who had an ever better eat-shit grin on and just daring Eren to interfere.

Of course he had to.

He reluctantly hurried down the bus and plopped down exactly where Levi was sitting, to which the ravenet bolted up with a yelp and a curse, "You know I fucking hate that!"

Eren inwardly smirked until he saw the disgusted look on Jean's face.

"What the hell do you want, Jaeger?"

"Shut up, horse face."

"You sat down next to me, idiot!"

_You should be thanking me._

Whatever plan that he had seemed to have worked. Once the bus engine spurts and the door closes Levi is nowhere to be found. He ignores the rest of Jean's pathetic attempts to piss him off—which is kind of working. It doesn't take too long for Marco to peak his head over the seat and catch Jean's attention anyway.

He's lost in his thoughts.

_How the hell did this happen?_

* * *

><p><em>There's that kid again; sitting on the swing set in Eren's backyard. Surely he was joking about being dead, but that raised the question: why is he in the backyard of a private property?<em>

_He has no choice but to confront the ravenet. It's a time like this he wishes he hadn't dropped that knife._

_"Hey! You!" He sashays across the backyard as intimidating as he possibly can._

_Animalistic eyes click onto him as if he were a target for a missile. He feels shrunken under the gaze but continues his stroll until he's toe to toe with the male who hadn't even stood up off of _his _swing set._

_"What the hell are you doing in my backyard?"_

_"This is my backyard, too." The kid says as-a-matter-of-factly._

_"Like hell it is!" Is all he can lamely say. His voice wasn't made for demanding. "Get the hell off of my property!"_

_The kid stands up now, even though Eren's height puts him to shame Eren can't help but to feel frozen in time. He knits his brows as the ravenet lifts his shirt up and reveals some knee-length washed out shorts torn at the knees that weren't there the other day. He fishes for something in his pocket before pulling out a small red object._

_His knife._

_It whips open and the tip is already pointed to the tip of Eren's nose. Behind it is an unamused scowl._

_He turns the blade to face him before muttering, "You dropped this."_

* * *

><p>When he gets home he's thankful that his mother's car isn't in the drive way because music is blaring so loud from his bedroom he can hear it from the street. He drops his bag by the door and slams the door shut before hurrying up the stairs.<p>

His door is wide open and Levi is laying sprawled out in his bed, nodding his head as he's humming to the song playing. He's trying to sing both main chorus and backup at the same time.

"_And then you said a little more about your dreams, like it was my call—my call—if you would only listen,"_ he's off key a bit and Eren's frown falters into a series of laughter. This is when silver eyes snap to him and a smirk peels over a pale complexion.

Levi slips out of bed and rocks his hips while he crosses the room until he's in front of Eren, singing loudly in his face, _"Bypassed everything and went straight for the neck—I study—we study—up nightly—dragged you out into the streets."_

Eren throws his head back with laughter at the try hard feel of Levi's singing. He doesn't argue when Levi takes both of his hands and spins him across the room filled with Levi's silky voice and the stereo vibrating the entire room. Levi sways him with the upbeat music, back and forth and twirling 360's.

"_What's it feel like to be a gho-o-ost?"_ Levi lip-syncs terribly to the lyrics. His face distorts dramatically and he holds a hand to his heart as he holds the note.

Eren bursts out laughing at the irony.

"Eren Jaeger!"

He squeaks at his mother's voice from—thankfully—downstairs. He breaks away from Levi's touch and hurries to the stereo where he slams his fist against all of the buttons until it pauses.

"Sorry!" He calls back.

He looks back to the sloppy smirk displayed on Levi's face. He scrunches his nose at the cocky ravenet before leaving his bedroom and peeking down the staircase where his mother is unpacking a box in the doorway.

"What's that?" He calls down.

She turns around to look at him as he's stepping down the steps. He can hear Levi following him but doesn't turn around yet.

"Oh, just some things for the shop."

The Smiling Titan was a small knick knack shop his mother run. It had been in the family for ages and would be passed down onto him, then his children, etc. It used to be run down and infested with rats before his mother took over. She fixed it up and made it a regular for the locals and a bucket list for tourists.

She pulls out a sculpture of a skinless man. Eren furrows his brows at the distasteful object.

"Oh, we got our shipment of Titans!" She happily squeaks. She sets the figurine down. It's a disgusting piece, a man with only muscles and a gross smile stretched across his face with blond hair falling to his shoulders. It's something from a nightmare.

"What the fuck is that?" Levi hunches over to get a better look. He knows not to touch anything.

"Eren, look, it's our signature. The Smiling Titan! Isn't that neat?"

"Your mom is going bat shit crazy." Levi curses.

"It's… something." Eren tries to find the right word. "It's kind of scary."

"You wanna know what's scary?" His mother puts her hands on her hips and leans over to eye level. She smiles so he knows he's not in too much trouble. "How the tea bags keep going missing. Think we got a ghost or maybe just a little sneak?"

"O-Oh, um."

"I'm kidding, dear. It's just so strange for a child to enjoy such a mature beverage."

When she turns around he narrows his eyes at the ravenet who is rocking on his heels and shrugging.

"Oh, don't pout like that." He didn't realize she had turned around until she grabbed his face and squeezed his cheeks. "I'm going to go to the store, do you want me to pick you up some more tea, then?"

"Yes, please, God, yes." Levi begs.

"Um."

"Tell her to get black tea!"

"W-Well, I've been wanting to try black tea."

"Yes!"

"Sure thing, dear." She ruffles his chocolate hair before grabbing her keys from the tabletop beside the door. She blows him a kiss, "I'll be back in 15 minutes. Take the chicken out of the freezer for me, would you?"

"Okay, mom." Eren tries to stiffen his body so Levi's ecstatic embrace doesn't make him fall over.

When she exits and shuts the door behind her he heaves a breath he had been holding before wrapping one arm around Levi's waist and laughs like a madman.

"You're going to drive me nuts."

"Tch," Levi lets go and takes two steps back. He crosses his arms. "You think I just wanted you to be the one who sees me? Yeah right. Like your company is any fun."

Levi has a terrible way with separating sarcasm from truth. He tries to assume the ravenet was just joking and smiles softly before holding the burning sensation on the back of his neck.

"I'll just have to try harder."


	2. 1988

**Authors Note:**

Thanks to my sister for scolding me that my French is terrible and thanks to my father for giving me the ability to poker face while lying or else she'd make sure I wouldn't be here today to tell you that I used Google Translate.

This is going to still be a short story, probably not even over 10 chapters, so if you feel like things are moving fast… well they sort of are. Strange things are beginning to happen early because it only gets odder from here.

**If you don't understand what's happening, a hint: it's said unrested souls will become triggered from objects from their time. **Especially souls that don't understand what it means to pass on. Hint hint wink wink.

At least that's what I've collected from spiritual research and that will be happening. uwu

Poor Levi… I always torture him.

And I'm pretty sure you guys know that Christmas is Levi's birthday? (Just throwing that out so no one is confused to the importance of that.)

**Musical Theme:**

Smokescreen [Analogue: A Hate Story OST]

* * *

><p><em><strong>Beautiful Boy<strong>__; 1988_

**6 years later.**

"Passer l'école."

Eren perked up at the voice in his ear. He tore his eyes away from his laptop screen before glancing over his shoulder, past the head resting on his shoulder and to his French study book gripped in pale fingers. With a groan he spins around, snatching his book back.

"I was looking for that." He whines, flipping through the pages before flopping it onto his desk. He spins back around and his fingers find the keyboard again. He reads over some sentences through his glasses and without looking back asks, "What'd you say, anyway?"

"Skip. School." The voice purring in his ear is no longer childish. It's belongs to a grizzly bear that had a battery acid margarita before indulging in sweet honey. It's no longer enjoyable to the naked ear, but rather repetitive and troublesome.

"Uh… no," his finger jabs the backspace key as Levi's presence further irritates him. He furrows his brows at his two page long report before sighing and shooing the ravenet from his shoulder. "I can't. I have a paper due today."

At mention, he glances to the red neon numbers in the corner of his room. He's got three hours before school and he's hardly slept a wink thanks to a final report due in his biology class. In seconds he's thickly focused on his paper again.

He's too indulged now to notice Levi's pale, candle wax finger slipping over his shoulder. He double takes the digit just before it's millimeters away from the 'delete' key and grabs him by the wrist harder than he should. Levi groans from frustrating boredom before his head is pressed against Eren's again in a pout.

"Stop being such a baby." Eren tosses his hand to the side, which Levi ragdolls and let's his hand audibly slap back against his hip.

"You're boring me to death."

"You're already dead."

"Second death." Levi breathes, retracting himself away from the brunet's space. He paces Eren's room, stomping mockingly as a soldier before he falls back onto the bed stacked in the corner of the room. He fumbles with Eren's iPod, putting one ear bud in and lets a song play idly in one ear while he keeps another out just in case Eren speaks.

Silver eyes dart up when there's a knock at his door, yet emerald orbs are still lit from the laptop screen. Seconds later his door cracks open and his mother's head pops in.

"Eren, 15 minutes."

"Alright." He muses. His fingers only type faster, his eyes flickering from keyboard to screen. She leaves him to work, and when 10 minutes pass by of Levi's silence, a muffled song playing and keys tapping, Eren finally stands up from his chair and stretches his hands over his head.

Levi rests his head on one arm, watching as the way that oversized white t-shirt lifts over the hem of Eren's sweatpants. Grey meets green when Eren turns around. Eren sighs, drifting to his bed before he sets down and lays his back against Levi's knees. It's uncomfortable but with them it comes to this most of the time, Eren sometimes doesn't even bother kicking Levi out of bed when he gets so tired like this.

"One day," Eren looks to the ravenet, who takes his time looking up due to a pout. "One day we'll be able to hang out again, just not this week."

"I'll be here… waiting…," he sighs. "Forever."

"And I don't doubt it." Eren smiles, getting back up from the bed; though he's failed to miss it was more of an insult than compliment.

Levi turns the other way, facing the wall when Eren strips his shirt off and begins fumbling around in his dressers. He dresses himself quickly in clothes that haven't been worn by Levi this week; a plaid green button up with some pants that had been on the floor for God knows how long, no telling who's worn them out of the duo. He shrugs, resuming to get ready.

Once finished in a rushed 3 minutes, he grabs his bag from the end of his bed.

"I'll be back tonight," he says to the back of shaved ebony hair.

"…Tu vas me manquer."

"What's that mean?" Eren cocks his head.

"Nothing," Levi rolls onto his back, his head lazily lulling to meet Eren's confused gaze. "Have fun."

Eren furrows his brows before smiling a crooked smile. He nods slowly before turning around, leaving the bedroom light on—even though his mother will turn it off and there's nothing he can do about it. He shuts the door reluctantly, pulling on the knob with a heavy heart. He sighs when it's closed, praying a silent apology through the door.

He weaves through his house until he's at the front door, his mother is sitting on the sofa with her hands occupied in knitting. She looks up from the red scarf she's working on to flash him a smile as Eren's putting on his snow boots.

"Have a good day, dear."

"You too," he returns the smile, shrugging on his coat. He reaches for the doorknob and just as he's turning he's interrupted by a painful _thwap_ on the back of his head. He curses silently before turning around, eyes meeting over a shadowed figure in his hallway, barely on the stairs and just out of sight from his mother.

He narrows his eyes, silently questioning him. Looking down, he sees the French studies book from earlier and reaches to pick it up.

"You forgot that." Levi says. "I didn't think you'd appreciate me just waltzing it out and giving your mom a heart attack."

He purses his lips, as if he's debating on moving to the hallway. Levi waves dismissively before turning on his heels, heading back towards the bedroom.

"I know, I know, you can't talk to me with people around." He calls over his shoulder.

Eren grumbles to himself.

"What is it, dear?" His mother's voice brings him back to. "Something wrong?"

Shaking his head, he forces a smile. He waves to his mother again, calling an "I love you" over his shoulder before swinging the door open and stepping into the bitter December air. He shoves his hands into his jacket pockets and waves to the teen who's been waiting on him for God knows how long.

"Sorry," he groans to the face hidden from too many beanies and layered jackets. "I got held up."

"S'okay," Armin's voice muffles from the other side of his clothing. He's got a thin hat of snow on top of his head that tells Eren it's in fact not okay and Armin will definably pay him back later. "At least we won't have to do this tomorrow." Armin sighs.

"I know!" He agrees excitedly. "Christmas break. Finally." The words are sweet on his tongue and the grin he's wearing is contagious.

"What're you going to be doing?" Armin asks.

He bites his bottom lip as he tries to remember what he's supposed to be doing over break. There's something important, besides Christmas, he knows it, but he can't place it. Not a vacation… but an important date.

"Dunno," he finally shrugs. "Nothing."

"Want to come spend Christmas night with me and grandpa, then? You can bring your mom, too."

"Mm, sounds good." He smiles.

* * *

><p>Nothing had changed since he was a child besides Levi had settled down at causing him trouble at school. Ever since he was grounded 6 years ago because of Levi, the raven seemed to have stopped following him to school. The last time he'd attended with Eren was when he watched Eren graduate from middle school.<p>

Yet, everything was still the same. Jean was still a punk bitch, just now he had a more colorful vocabulary and was now dating his best friend. Armin was oblivious as ever to Jean's bullshit, Mikasa was still nagging him on about needing to get out more, Annie still remained a thorn in his spine.

Nothing at all had changed, especially not his long walk home through the snow.

When he arrives home he groans that the snow in his driveway hasn't been shoveled, meaning he sinks his foot into the ankle deep snow with a mouthful of curses to the sky. As if matters can't get any worse, he trips over himself, falling into the white matter wrist deep and nearly breaks his nose on a shard of ice hammered into the snow.

Narrowing his eyes, he realizes it's actually _something_.

When he juts his ungloved hand into the snow, he pulls out a small baggy. Inside is a newspaper, to which he has to scoff to himself. He hasn't seen once since he was a kid and to humor himself he pulls it out as he stands up.

"Eren, what are you doing?"

He looks up when he hears the grizzly bear. He's shivering, hugging himself and the door is wide open.

"What the hell are _you_ doing?" He hisses, waving the paper. "Shut the damn door before my mom sees!"

He rolls his eyes when Levi flails his arms and retreats back into the home. Eren winces when Levi slams the door behind him and prays that his mother doesn't come out to blame him. He's about to take a step before he remembers the newspaper and unfolds it in his hands.

When he takes a step, he freezes. The first thing his eyes see is the date printing in huge, bold letters in the top right corner.

**January 23rd, 1988.**

"What…?" He asks the sheet, as if it'll respond. "…The hell?"

He flips through the sheets, glancing at the black and white print. It looks fresh, like brand new, and if his memory serves right thanks to all of Armin's museum visits, it should be filtered yellow with age.

It's a time during the oversees war against a terrorist group called Titans. The phrase is constantly repeated in print, talk of war and deaths. His eyes become wide at the rage he begins feeling at all of the memorials, especially knowing Armin's grandfather was in them. Immediately his suspicion is on Levi playing a freak prank. He rolls the paper in his hand before stomping through the rest of the snow filled lot until he's swinging his front door open.

"Levi!" He whispers, hissing his name. The ravenet isn't to be found, so he slams the door behind him, ignoring his mother's double take and storms to his room. Emerald immediately find silver and he waves the paper. "What the hell is this? What if Armin was with me?"

"What?"

"What do you mean what?" He takes two steps forward, only becoming irritated when Levi takes two back. "What if his grandfather came over and saw this?! Don't you care about triggering people—"

He's cut off when Levi groans, holding a hand over his chest and nearly doubles over. The ravenet stumbles back, knocking off a canister of pens from Eren's desk as his hand grips at the edges before it slides to the wall. He looks up, eyes wide.

"What the fuck, Eren?" He gasps. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Eren knits his brows, taking another step forward. He's losing his patience with Levi's games when the raven stumbles backwards until he's pressed against the opposite wall.

"Stop!" Levi wails. His eyes are pleading, darting back and forth between each emerald orb across the room. "What are you doing? Why are you…?"

He groans again, throwing a hand to his forehead where it holds. He cries out and whimpers when Eren takes a step forward, this time in worry. Never seeing Levi like this before, he tries to hold a hand out to the soul. Levi does double over now, sliding down the wall and hugs his knees to his chest as he presses himself deeper into the corner.

"Stop!" Like a dog whose tail had been stepped on, he screeches. "Get away from me!"

Eren obeys this time, taking a total of 6 steps back, never taking his eyes off of Levi until his back is against the opposing wall. He feels queasy now, as if the room is beginning to tremble and his head is full of unwanted pressure that makes his eyes feel like they'll explode. His ears pop, his heart races, Levi is frightening when he goes silent.

"What's wrong?" Eren breathes.

Levi looks up from the arm that'd been barricading his face. His eyes are as wide as the moon, pupils blown out with fear. His complexion has paled tenfold; the expression "as pale as a ghost" had never been so ironic and true.

"What is that?" Levi whispers. When Eren doesn't register, Levi points to the paper. "That! What the hell is that?!"

Eren unfolds the paper again, skimming over every so word. He turns it around so that Levi can see it's just a newspaper, before telling him just that, "It's a newspaper. I thought… you did this…"

"Did _what_?" Levi spits.

"It's… from the… I thought you were trying to…" Thinking about it now, he wasn't sure what the origin of this prank would be. He trails off, feeling silly for even thinking it. He turns it back over, looking at it again. "I don't know what I thought."

"It's… disgusting." Levi finally murmurs. He moves his arm just right for Eren to see his free hand is still clenched over his heart. "It's… hurting me."

"I… but why?" He asks more to himself as his eyes trail over every word. He flips through the pages, trying to process what's written. The papers still smell like processed ink and it makes his head spin. His eyes finally freeze at a small section; what catches his attention is _his_ address is printed.

His jaw drops slowly as he rereads a paragraph over and over again. And again. Again. _Again._ _Again…_

"Levi…," His stomach lurches. He wants to puke looking up at his friend. His knees are weak, he wants to collapse. A wave of sadness is slowing his heart rate, making his body chill. Dry lips, shaking knees and unsteady hands. He keeps the information to himself when the grizzly bear turns into a deer in headlights.

**Triple Homicide, Three Children Murdered**, written in bold.

_Three bodies were discovered at 616 Shiganshina Lane, buried in the snow. One female, two males identified as Farlan Church, age 13, Isabel Magnolia, age 7, and Levi Ackerman, age 11. Their bodies were hidden for three weeks until a neighbor shoveled the neighbor's neglected yard and reported the missing bodies._

There was an old, grainy, black and white photo of the three… the photos were of their dead bodies and further down had close up of all of their faces. A girl with short hair, a boy with lighter hair, and Levi… their eyes were closed, like they were sleeping. Just sleeping. That's what it looked like in the distant photo with all of their bodies laid neatly in a row.

_The murderer is unknown, but a murder weapon was found buried in the backyard. _

A knife, the article explains; a military knife. A red military knife, picture included.

His eyes whiplashed across the monochrome photo, comparing it to the very pocket knife he'd found as a child when he and his mother moved in; the very pocket knife that still sat on his back porch. The knife Levi had returned to him. He wanted to puke. His breath was lost, all his mind telling him _no way. No fucking way. _But there was the symbol, a wing, the same that was on his knife. Even a small little indention in the blade where a chip was missing, just like in his knife.

No way did he hold the knife that murdered his best friend.

He shook his head, there _was_ no way. The police had to have had the knife in evidence custody. He focused on the rest of the article; the murderer is unknown. That makes his heart skip a beat from horror as his eyes flicker back to the picture of Levi's pale face, eyes permanently shut, expression relaxed, a smudge of dark substance dripping from his nose and lips.

"Eren… what is it?" Levi's voice almost falls on deaf ears.

He rereads over the name "Ackerman" as many times as he can before his eyes are sore. In the back of his mind is the nagging voice of Mikasa.

He looks up from the paper before spinning on his heels and throwing open his nightstand drawer. He tosses it in the nearly empty slot before slamming it shut. What he'll do with it later he's yet to think of, all he knows is that his feet are on auto pilot when he paces to the other side of the room and collapses next to the ravenet. His knees skid painfully, even through his jeans, yet he ignores it.

He throws his arms around the ravenet, pulling him into the tightest hold that he could possibly form. Whether or not Levi enjoys it, he cradles the spirits head on his shoulder, sliding his hand through ebony hair and holding his damp cheek close to Levi's. The ravenet's breath hitches and it's not till now that Eren realizes how bone-chilling Levi's temperature is.

Freezing like the snow. Like being buried in the snow for three weeks.

"I'm so sorry." He bites back a sob. All of the guilt of neglecting his childhood friend is gnawing at him all at once. Levi is motionless to say at the least, hardly even accepting any of Eren's affection. The brunet pulls away, sitting on his knees as he stares into the charcoal eyes.

He can't imagine.

"What's going on?" Thin brows furrow. Levi looks disgusted and confused. "What was in that newspaper?"

"…You," Eren mumbles, confused. "What happened to you…"

"What happened to me?" Levi asks. Eren cocks his head before shaking it. "What do you mean?"

"You… don't know…?" Eren's voice is a whisper. Levi looks as if he's becoming irritated, with one hand still over his chest. Eren imagines he must still be hurting. "You… and your… friends…?"

"…Who, Eren? I don't have any other friends," Levi retorts. "You're the only friend I have."

That might have been the saddest thing Eren's ever heard. He wants to explain the paper, yet all of his prior knowledge—especially on ghost movies—knows that it's almost certain Levi will disappear. Out of all the annoyance the ravenet has caused him, he can't imagine his life without him. He can't take the risk.

He brushes his fingers across Levi's cheek, earning a strange look as if Levi was in a hostile situation. In Eren's mind he can't comprehend how the rosy color has managed to return to Levi's dead complexion. How he just looked at Levi's dead body minutes ago, but here he is right in front of him, ageless even after 27 years.

That made Levi 38, yet he still looked so young.

All this time he knew Levi was dead, and Levi would live forever. He would truly wait on Eren for an eternity. Eren was all that he had.

"Promise you won't leave me," Eren begs.

"Where am I going to go?" Levi scoffs.

"…Nowhere. You're not going anywhere."

"Restez avec moi."

* * *

><p><strong>Translations: <strong>

Tu vas me manquer. [I'll miss you.]

Restez avec moi. [Stay with me.]

**End Note:**

The newspaper will be explained, as well as where it came from. Just keep in mind this story is supernatural, meaning there will be reality twisting moments. Eren and Levi's relationship will form as the story progresses as well, no worries. uwu


	3. Eyes

**Authors Note:**

I actually Google'd how to fix a broken nose even though it won't matter till the next chapter. It was gross. The things I do for you guys.

I wrote this with a pretty bad migraine. I probably should have rested before but I had too much motivation and so it might be a little different than my usual writing. Idk. My head hurts. Cri.

The musical theme probably seems weird, especially if you know what MMM is, but it's what I was listening to on repeat while writing this and I was just like woowowow sad. Not a big fan of part 1 but 2 & 3 are my jam ay.

ANYWAY. I've been waiting to write this chapter for a long time. Cue some evil laughter soundtrack.

Now, if you think Eren and Levi's relationship is moving too fast, imagine that you've only known one person your whole life. That's Levi. This is still going to be a slow moving relationship despite.

**Musical Theme:**

Me! Me! Me! Part2 & Part3

* * *

><p><em><strong>Beautiful Boy<strong>__; Eyes_

His eyes peeled open slowly—more or less painfully at the gust of chilled air thrown in his face. He hugged himself immediately, eyes darting at the blinding white snow his feet were sunken into. No longer was he curled up, weeping silently with Levi in the corner of his room. He never remembered leaving; this had to be a dream.

One of the most freezing, realistic dreams he's ever had.

"Levi!" His head darts to the woman's voice. A girl with ear muffs covering half of her head and a jacket that had enough stuffing to dress a sheep. A red scarf was tangled around half of her face, making it impossible to see her. She stepped off of the icy sidewalk and her snow boots sank into the frozen fleece.

When she waved behind him, he turned around, gasping audibly when he saw the ravenet standing idly at the front door of his home. He was young again; still hardly 3 feet tall with baby fat still on his cheeks.

It's a nightmare, Eren came to the conclusion. All thanks to that damned newspaper.

Unlike the girl, Levi was dressed in only a thin flannel shirt half buttoned up and one side tucked into his jeans. Instead of the boots Eren usually saw him in he was wearing just socks.

"Are you crazy? You'll freeze to death!" Eren cried out, unsure of why. His vocal chords felt loose; the voice speaking wasn't his.

"Can it, Farlan." Levi scoffed, silver orbs right on him. "Hurry up and get the mail."

His body felt light on autopilot, like looking through someone elses eyes. The clothes on his body weren't his; those brown and yellow snow boots didn't belong to him, the jeans with rips in the knees weren't his and he'd never seen this ugly beige jacket before. Yet he could see it, in first person, as his hand reached out to the mailbox.

"Nothin'." He says. He closes the mailbox with an irritated sigh, looking back to Levi who sighs and shrugs.

"You both get inside," the woman from before is standing in front of him. He can now see the messy pony tail her red hair is pulled into and her glasses have a bit of frost on the edges. "You're going to freeze to death."

"Another snow storm apparently." Eren says with his new voice. The woman nods, linking her arm through his as they walk back through the front yard. She's a few inches taller than him and he assumes she's much older by the slight wrinkles on her forehead.

"And I'm supposed to be babysitting you brats," she grumbles, narrowing her eyes at Levi before smiling reassuringly when he knits his brows. "Kenny will kill me if you guys get sick 'cause of me. Go, go!"

She pats Levi on the backside playfully, shoving him into the door he'd hardly got open. He's pushed in next with her large hands on his back and he stumbles into the home he recognizes as his own, only furniture has been moved around, things aren't the same and there's a thick smell of chlorine throughout the house.

She sighs when the door is closed and unzips her jacket. His heart skips a beat when she removes her scarf and earmuffs, face revealed to be someone he already knows. Someone he actually knows outside of this horrible claustrophobic experience.

Professor Hanji Zoe.

"Did Kenny lay out anything for dinner?"

He shrugs, looking to Levi who is now sitting next to a younger redheaded girl, her eyes wide and fixated on the flashing TV screen in front of her.

"No," Levi says. His voice reminds Eren of the days they spent when they were younger. He never thought he'd hear it again. "That's why he's at the store… or the bar." He adds quietly.

His head sinks into his hugged knees and his eyes are narrowed at the TV. He still looks as he did when they first met; young, brittle and naive. His skin is olive and paler than ever, eyes still sunken from a lack of sleep and silky hair falling onto his forehead.

It wasn't the grizzly bear he knew now. It was a time ticking bomb lodged inside of the stomach of an owl with a voice that was rarely heard. Always tired; always watching, waiting to explode.

He prayed he wasn't going to be around for _that_.

"He's not a bad man, Levi." Hanji mutters, turning her back and heading into the kitchen.

Levi scoffs once she's out of earshot. He rolls his eyes before they fall on Eren and he pats the empty spot on the couch. His feet move on their own as he walks towards him, sitting down quietly and softly, farthest away from Levi yet in between him and this girl.

"What're you watching?" He asks, looking at the emerald eyes wide and reflecting the box TV.

"Cartoons." She mumbles. Her eyes finally look up, at him and she stretches her arms over her head. "But I'm bored! Let's go do somethin'."

"Hanji, can we go downtown?" He asks, looking up when she returns from the kitchen with her hand in a chip bag.

"What for?"

"There's a new hunting shop," Levi answers, eyes still dull on the screen. "Farlan gets wet thinking about it."

"Hey!"

* * *

><p>His vision sinks into white flashes before his eyes bolt open; his breathing irregular and his pulse hammering in his throat. He reaches for nothingness, as if he were falling before and holds his hands on the ground to remind himself he's stable. His eyes are wide, bolting from every corner of <em>his<em> room.

_His_ bed. _His_ posters. _His_ laptop. _His_ desk.

It's all still here, sitting in the darkness of the night. His eyes fall to the raven still resting with his head in his lap, fast asleep and breathing softly. There's still drops of wet in the corners of his eyes from the pain before.

"Farlan."

He wants to shriek at the female voice in his room but it comes out as a frog's croak in the core of his throat. His heart hammers inside of his chest when his eyes interlock with mirrored faery pools staring wide at him, sitting perfectly on a round face frazzled with red pig tails.

"Isabel." He whispers, unsure of how he even knows the name. The face is familiar yet he doesn't recall ever hearing her name.

"Yep!" She beams, standing upright proudly. Her smile falters slightly when she glances at the motionless ravenet. She looks up again, not at Eren. "Dinner's ready."

"Okay."

Eren looks up to meet the voice, his heart swollen in his throat or else he'd have screamed like an animal caught in a trap. A boy; wearing the same ugly beige jacket, hair matching the color and narrow blue eyes looking at the girl in the center of his room.

He scurries to his feet, completely unaware of the ravenet he's stumbling over and huddles in the corner like a child. Small yelps escape from his erratic breathing, he blinks when he sees no more in his room but the same interior as before.

"Eren, what the f—"

"Stop!" He shrieks, holding his hand out.

"Hey!" Levi's voice worriedly exclaims. He reaches out, grabbing a hold of Eren's leg.

He doesn't even realize that his muscle spasm leads to his foot clashing into Levi's nose, sending the raven onto his back, hands holding his face. The only reason he looks down is because of the fact his foot came into contact with something and holds his hands over his mouth to quiet his surprised gasp.

"Oh shit," Eren whispers, falling back down to his knees. He tries to pry Levi's hands away from his face but Levi pushes him back, cursing quietly. "I'm fucking sorry—I'm so sorry!"

He hurries to the other side of the room, panic still flowing through his veins when he nearly breaks the light switch in slapping it on. He hugs the wall as his eyes graze across the room, double checking that these people are in fact gone. Sighing in partial relief, he crosses back to Levi and returns to his knees.

"Motherfucker," Levi grumbles, removing his blood stained hand. Eren's eyes go wide when he sees the profound bleeding coming from his nose. "The fuck is wrong with you?"

"I…," he starts, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I had a nightmare."

"One hell of a fucking nightmare." He breathes, double taking the blood on his hand. "I think you broke my fucking nose."

"I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Levi's gaze meets his momentarily before he sighs.

"Forget it." Levi sighs. "Just get me some fucking tissue."

He nods before standing and jogging out of his room, into the dark hallway and barefoot on the tiled linoleum of his bathroom. He grabs a roll of tissue before hurrying back to his room, shutting the door behind him and returning to the spot where Levi hadn't left.

He unrolls some before watching Levi press it to his nose. His stomach churns in guilt when the tissue reddens quickly.

"Levi, forgive me." He pleads with furrowed brows. "I'm sorry."

"I said forget it." His speech is muffled.

He tries holding his head back but sighs in irritation. Eren takes a hold of the crook of Levi's arm, muttering "c'mon" before Levi stands up with him. He leads him to the bed, forcing him to lay down and rest his head on one of the too many pillows he owns.

"I'll bleed on your bed." He tries to protest.

"I don't care." Eren grumbles, helping Levi replace the tissue and presses it to the raven's nose. Levi winces before his hands rest at his side, leaving Eren to hold it in place. "I'll Google how to fix a broken nose."

"You'll what?"

"Internet talk."

"Whatever."

He smiles slightly, using his free hand to smooth back the bangs off of Levi's forehead. His hand rests at the crown of Levi's head and he completely ignores the strange look he receives. Within seconds Levi seems lost to the touch regardless. Instead of twisting his lips and narrowing his eyes he relaxes and closes his eyes.

"Hey, Levi."

"Mm?"

"You knew Hanji Zoe?"

His eyes blink open to meet Eren's distant gaze before he sighs and shuts his lids.

"Doesn't ring any bells."

"Mm," he hums, disappointed. He untangles his fingers from Levi's hair and replaces his tissue again. "I think I might have to visit her soon."

"Can you just fix my nose or not?"

He sucks in a breath to answer but the sound of his door clicking open cuts him off. In an attempt to hide the roll and wads of bloody toilet paper he ends up just dropping and unraveling the whole roll, leaving him with a mess of bloody tissue in his fist.

"Honey, are you awake?" She asks, inviting herself in. She hugs her robe close to her and rubs her eyes before her brows furrow. "What are you doing with all of the toilet paper?"

"I—uh…," he looks back to the bloody mess, glancing to Levi's paved expression, back to his mother. He inwardly curses himself for the only excuse he has. "I'm a teenage boy, what do you think?"

Levi snickers, a smirk peeling on his face as a blush grows on Eren's face.

"O-Oh." She fumbles in the doorway and averts her eyes. "Right."

And like that the door slams shut.

"Fucking idiot," Levi laughs, smacking Eren's hand when it dares to try and thump his nose. Eren breaks with a grin before shaking his head and holding his head in his hands. "She didn't even see the blood." He adds softly.

"…Yeah," he breathes, confused. "She didn't."

"I guess I'm invisible all over."

"Not to me."

He's unsure of why he said the exact words, especially with Levi's unexpressive reaction. After seconds of prolonged eye contact Levi finally breaks the silence with a small chuckle and sits up, leaning his head against the wall.

"Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"No, it's Christmas vacation."

"Already?"

"I know, time flies, right?" Eren asks, unrolling another wad.

"I don't really have concept of time anymore," Levi sighs, pressing the tissue to his nose despite its lack of bleeding anymore. "Lost it after staring at the same walls for all these years. So no, time didn't really fly."

Eren's unsure of when exactly to pinpoint where Levi's mood turned sour but it makes his stomach drop with guilt.

"Forget it," Levi sighs. After minutes of silence Levi finally looks up from the designs on Eren's blankets, meeting a spaced out gaze that's been on him. "Don't you get tired of it?"

"Of what?"

"Me."

"Why would I?"

"You know why."

"I don't mind it," he admits. "You're my friend… my best friend at that."

"You have other friends."

"But you're the best." Eren tries to smile for the sake of lightening the mood. It fails when Levi shakes his head, eyes darting away. "I wouldn't… trade you. If that's what you mean. I wouldn't replace you. I couldn't."

"If you wanted to, I can go." Levi mumbles. "You don't have to tolerate me. I _can_ go, you know."

"Where would you even go?"

"Out of your sight."

"I don't want you out of my sight," Eren sighs, reaching over to grab Levi's chin, making the ravenet look at him. "I very much like you in my sight."

"…That's good." His voice is little. His eyes are downcasted despite Eren's hold on his chin until Eren sighs again, making Levi look up to see his lopsided, disappointed frown. "I like you in mine too."

"Good," Eren smiles, removing his hand.

"Eren…,"

"Hm?"

"You're all I have, you know."

"…Yeah."

After another pregnant silence there's only half a second to respond to the incoming clash of dry lips onto his. Levi's knee is digging into his hip and his hand is relying on the pole of his bed frame for balance; Levi's lips are hardly responsive despite it being his first move. Eren's eyes are wide, staring horrified at the closed lids in front of him, mouth unmoving.

His lips taste like pennies that he used to put into his mouth as a child. Copper, dried blood from a dripping nose that was crashed into his. His skin is cold and his breath is shaky but heavy and tickling his face. He smells his own scent mixed with Levi's natural musk; an overwhelming sensation of _something_ he can't explain makes him freeze.

"Fuck." Levi pulls away, licking his lips. He shakes his head, eyes still closed. He slides out of the bed, already heading for the door. With his hand on the knob he glances back. "Sorry—I saw shit when I was a kid and I thought… just—fuck. Forget it."

The door slams shut, leaving him to stare at where Levi used to be on his bed.

"No!" He sits up, calling to the door. "Levi, come back!"

He bolts from the bed, stumbling over a couple of misplaced items before he swings the door open, catching the ravenet on the stairs. He hurries down, grabbing Levi's wrist. He doesn't turn around; his grip is tight but with one slip Levi could walk away.

"What?" Levi asks, glancing over his shoulder.

"I don't know." Eren says shortly. "Just don't go."

"I can't look at you right now." His head hands, back still turned to Eren. "I don't know what I'm feeling."

He opens his mouth to speak when he hears the house creak. Gasping, he glances around like a wild deer, eyes wide and frightened. Worried he'll see those people again he pulls on Levi's arm, attempting to bring the statue back. His heartrate is still irregular despite no one being around but them and the wind blowing harshly outside.

"Levi I'm scared, please!" He begs. Even if it was just a shitty, coincidental nightmare, he's terrified. "Please!"

He's caught off guard again when Levi spins around, his elbow colliding into Eren's shoulder and arm pressed to his throat. He stumbles back from the force being pushed on him until his back is against the wall and Levi is glaring daggers at him. Dried blood is still surrounding Levi's bruised nose.

"I'm sorry." Is all he knows how to say.

"Tch," his hands readjust, slapping to each side of Eren's head. His face is so close he can feel the heated, heavy breathing. For a minute he's worried Levi would hit him, though he knows it's not the worst that could happen. "I can't stand you right now."

"I… I can never stand you! But I do!" Eren festers, stomping his foot forward though Levi doesn't budge. He doesn't even seem as offended as Eren could ever be; a hollow, doll like expression amuses his face.

"Whatever," Levi breathes, taking two steps back. "You've got the rest of the night for yourself then."

He chokes on his words, watching Levi walk away. He swears there's steam coming from his ears and the fact that Levi wasn't even phased just makes him want to hit something. His nails dig into his fists, he opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out.

What else is there to do but storm in the other direction? He slams the bathroom door, growling in irritation when he hears the backdoor slam shut seconds later. He can just see that shitty smirk on Levi's face. He slaps the light switch, putting both hands on each side of the sink to take a breather.

Deep breathes.

He inhales, slumping over when he exhales the weight in his chest. Glancing in the mirror he sees a stain of blood on his upper lip, looking down there's blood on his fingertips and palms. He blinks back the guilt from before and turns on the water, washes his hands and scrubs Levi's taste off of his lips.

"The hell were you thinking anyway…,"

He was throwing in the towel with this; with Levi. There was no hope. The ravenet was as infuriating as he was confusing. So why did he feel like this heated discussion was all his fault?

Too many questions were boggling his mind.

Who the hell is Isabel and Farlan exactly and why was he having these vivid dreams… nightmares? Why did it end where it did? What was the closure in that? Why the hell was he seeing them—better yet why had he ever seen Levi at all?

…Why did Levi kiss him? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

He had to be going mad, he concluded mentally, laughing audibly to himself. He shook his head, running his wet hands against his face and held them at his chin as he looked up in the mirror. He was too young to be getting these kind of bags under his eyes.

His brows furrowed once he made eye contact with himself.

"The hell…?" Talking to himself had become a normal routine.

This time, understandably, he felt like screaming by himself. Pressing a hand to the mirror, he leaned closer, observing his left eye becoming visibly darker in shade. The honey and jade hue in his right eye absolutely did not match the silver, baby blue spirals in his left; almost as if it were Levi's own eye in his socket.

Pulling his lid down, he lost his breath.

The wide orb in his left eye had shrunken slightly and changed colors completely.

With a wry chuckle he concluded he was definably going bat shit crazy.


End file.
